Why a Home Inspection Is a Must

Laura had lousy luck with her new house. A few years after moving in, a trench began to form along a back wall. Digging showed rotting wood - where concrete blocks had been specified. Although the builder assured Laura that appropriate construction inspections had been made, the entire foundation had to be replaced. Then it turned out that the electrical system didn't meet code requirements, either, and it had to be upgraded. Final resolution is now in the courts.

To limit the likelihood that Laura's luck will be yours, watch what's going on during construction if you're buying a new house. Read the specifications, and insist on seeing building permits as well as certificates of compliance. When possible, be on-site during inspections and ask a lot of questions.

Before you buy any house, do some inspecting on your own. Using the photos, drawings, and checklists in Your Home Inspection Guide, by William L. Ventolo (Dearborn), you'll be able to find both obvious and hidden defects - on your own.

And defects there may be. Hidden by walls, floors, earth, shrubs, furniture, appliances, and snow, are elements of a home's construction that can fail and may have already done so. Since you're not an experienced contractor, you'd never notice any of those problems, so before you agree to buy the castle, you decide to call in a home inspector. Good move!

But you're new to town, so you ask the broker for a recommendation. Bad move! The last person you want to get advice from, when it comes to protecting your interests, is the seller's broker. Even if the broker's heart is in the right place, self interest and the seller's best interest might mean you'd end up with the town's laziest inspector rather than the most thorough.

Get recommendations from your attorney, neighbors, disinterested brokers, contractors, or the local building inspector. Go to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) website or call 800-743-2744 for brochures on home inspections and referrals to members in your area.

Call a few inspectors and interview them. What is their background, how long have they been doing inspections, how many have they done, could they give you the names of a few clients they inspected for a year ago? (That's long enough for most missed problems to have surfaced.) Call them up and get their feedback.

When the day comes, follow the inspector around and ask questions. Do your own thorough inspection beforehand, and at the same time. But be advised: the same potential defects that are hidden from your view will be just as hidden from the inspector's. Even inspectors who are members of ASHI will only make "visual inspections" which are "not intended to be technically exhaustive." Our advice? Invest in your knowledge, as usual. While a pro can pick up things you might miss, if you're going to shell out the bucks to live in the house, you might as well understand how its various systems function. The more you know, the less you'll spend.

Down to Basics

The inspector will not check to make sure the building meets code or zoning requirements, will not look for ants, termites, or Mickey and his family. You won't find out from the inspector if the septic system is functioning properly, if the appliances work, if the hidden plumbing or electrical systems are in trouble, if the wall insulation is adequate, if hidden foundations are about to crumble. Unless you pay extra, you won't learn about radon or mold spores in the air. Although every other player in the home buying game is licensed, few states license building inspectors. The only thing that may be keeping you from being an inspector yourself is business cards. While there are excellent people in the field, it's up to you to find one.

If you want to be extra prudent - and why shouldn't you be, you've got a lot at stake here - it's smart to call in plumbing, electrical, roofing, and general contractors to look over anything the inspectors report does not fully cover. Most will look the house over for free, in the hope that you'll hire them to fix those things they'll carefully search to find, including code violations.

Specifically ask for written disclosures from the broker and the seller. They're required to tell you of any problems that they know of with the house. If they don't, and you find out that they did know, you'll have some recourse.

Are we trying to scare you? You bet! Plug something into every outlet (the inspector will check a "representative number"), check every switch, light, faucet, drain, door, and room air conditioner. The inspector will tell you whether the heating system is working as of this minute, but not if it will adequately warm the living room. You can find out yourself.

No matter who you hire to help you with the purchase of your home, you and your family are the ones who'll suffer if a mistake is made. It's well worth the investment of a chunk of your time to make sure your next home isn't a nightmare on Elm Street.